Pritchett Proposal Nears Completion

By Jeremy Hylton
Editor in Chief

A student proposal to re-open the Pritchett Snack Bar will be completed
this week and sent to the Office of Housing and Food Services, according to
one of its authors, East Campus President Tariq M. Shaukut '94.

A draft proposal has been circulating among students at East Campus and
Senior House for several weeks, Shaukat said. "Hopefully we'll get the
majority of the comments by the end of the next couple of days," he
said.

The current draft of the proposal calls for Pritchett to be re-opened
starting next semester. Pritchett would operate from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30
p.m. on weekdays, 1 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. on
Sundays under the proposal.

Pritchett was closed at the beginning of this term as part of the
campus-wide change in the dining system. Currently, Morss Hall, which is
open for dinner weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m., is the only dining facility on
the east side of campus. Morss Hall also serves breakfast and lunch.

An Undergraduate Association survey conducted last month showed that nearly
80 percent of east campus resident are unhappy with the quality and
convenience of food services.

Many students support the proposal to re-open Pritchett. "I'm all for it.
It's just a pain to have to go to Lobdell when you want to get something to
eat, and you don't want to order pizza,' said Belinda T. W. Yung '95, a
Senior House resident.

Proposal carefully crafted

Shaukat stressed that the proposal was designed as a realistic solution to
the east campus food problems. "We think it's definitely something that has
a good chance of being accepted as a working plan for re-opening
Pritchett," he said.

The proposals' authors have discussed re-opening Pritchett with food
services administrators and East Campus and Senior House housemasters,
Shaukat said.

"[Food services] seemed fairly receptive at the time I talked to them. They
recognized that there was a problem with late night and weekend services in
particular, and it seemed like they wanted to do something about it,"
Shaukat said.

The proposal currently says the authors recognize the constraints which
Housing and Food Services are operating under. The proposal calls for
students to operate Pritchett, with training provided to improve efficiency
and quality.

Still, there are details that must be settled once the proposal is
complete. "The proposal is really something to get the ball rolling and let
Housing and Food Services know what we want as a bare minimum," Shaukat
said.

The first draft of the proposal was written on Oct. 25 and distributed to
many residents of East Campus and Senior House. Shaukat said many students
had commented on the original draft and that revisions had been made as a
result.

One change suggested by several students was to specifically ask that
vegetarian fare or salads be served, Shaukat said. Others students voiced
strong feelings about Pritchett being operated primarily by students, he
said.

"The reason we're going through all this is that we want to make sure that
this is a proposal that will reflect the actual majority opinion," Shaukat
said. "We don't want to have [Housing and Food Services] follow our
proposal and have 200 people flame food services again."

Michael T. Pierce '95, an East Campus resident, had not seen the proposal,
but his comments were representative of student opinion. "I would certainly
be happy if Pritchett would be re-opened. It's a good alternative to have
Walker food all day," he said.

Some students, however, were not interested in eating at Pritchett. Betty
F. Nguyen '97 said, "I'd rather have Walker's hours expanded. Somehow
grease all night doesn't appeal."